Powerball jackpot grows to $360 million

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Powerball jackpot for the May 15 drawing climbed to $360 million Tuesday, the third largest Powerball jackpot of all time. The increase is based on a nationwide surge in sales.

Before the increase, the advertised jackpot was $350 million. The cash value of the May 15 jackpot is now $229.2 million.

The jackpot was last hit on March 30. Wednesday's drawing is the 13th in the current run, which has produced one $1 million winner. Samantha Netterville of Woodville, Miss. claimed that match-5 prize from the May 11 drawing at Lottery headquarters in Baton Rouge Monday. Hers is the fourth Powerball prize of at least $1 million sold in Louisiana so far this year. A $1 million match-5 prize won in the Jan. 19 drawing was claimed by Bryon Davis of Donaldsonville; a $2 million match-5 with Power Play prize won in the Feb. 16 drawing was claimed by Amy Sturges of Morgan City; and a $1 million match-5 prize won in the March 16 drawing was claimed by Thang Nguyen of Gretna on behalf on an office pool.

In Louisiana, Powerball sales for this draw run, which began Sunday, March 31, total more than $13 million and are expected to climb ahead of Wednesday's drawing. Powerball tickets must be purchased by 9 p.m. the night of the drawing.

The most recent Powerball jackpot won in Louisiana was in July 2010 for $85.7 million. The largest Powerball jackpot ever won is $587.5 million in November 2012, which was split between two winning tickets.

Wednesday's Powerball drawing, as well as all Louisiana lottery drawings, are aired nightly on Fox 8.